Register your address at your new city hall. This is the single most important thing you will do.
Not verified yet
Drafted from general knowledge of national procedure. Not yet checked against the official source — confirm details with your city hall before relying on them.
Why it matters
This is the root of the entire system. Until you have done this you legally have no address in Japan — which means no residence certificate, no health insurance, no bank account, no phone contract, and no rental agreement. Almost everything else in your roadmap is blocked behind this one counter visit.
- Deadline
- Within 14 days of moving into your address
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- 1–3 hours including waiting
What to bring
- Residence Card在留カード·zairyū kādo
- Passportパスポート·pasupōto
- Move-out certificate転出証明書·tenshutsu shōmeisho
Only if you moved from another municipality in Japan
How it goes
- 1
Go to the resident registration desk
At the city or ward office covering your new address. Take a numbered ticket if there is a machine at the entrance.
Say this
転入届を出したいのですが。
Tennyū todoke o dashitai no desu ga.
I would like to file a move-in notification.
- 2
Fill in the move-in form
Write your address exactly as it appears on your lease. Japanese addresses run largest-to-smallest and the block/lot numbers matter — a wrong digit here will follow you into every other document.
- 3
Have your residence card updated
Staff will print your new address on the back of your residence card at the same visit. Check it before you leave the counter.
- 4
Do the rest while you are already there
Health insurance, pension, and your first residence certificates can usually all be done in the same building on the same day. Ask before you leave — a second trip costs you another half day off work.